The splendid MMoCA celebrates its first birthday with one of its (more or less) monthly Friday soirees. This time there's music by the Hometown Sweethearts, plus cake and guided tours by those savvy docents.

Pittsburgh punk vets Punchline have a taste for pop hooks and vocals, but they also employ urgent post-punk rhythms. That makes all the difference in the world. The Graduate, the Fold, Permanent Me and Call You Out also appear.

This musical comedy is a strange, moving, disarmingly funny look at the autism-related disorder Asperger's syndrome. The show is presented by Encore! Studio for the Performing Arts, a theater company for people with disabilities.

American punk/country queen Exene Cervenka employs members of local horror-show instrumentalists Knuckel Drager in her band the Original Sinners, and for this show she's helping raise cash to fix KD's busted van. Knuckel Drager themselves are also slated to appear. The Apologists open.

You gotta hand it to Werner: The veteran folkie is willing to stand up for what she believes. On her intriguing new CD, The Gospel Truth, she challenges church-endorsed truth with "agnostic gospel" music that embraces social activism and a moral code free from old-school dogma.

Suffice it to say, Madison expats Locksley are doing quite well these days. Their bubblicious "Why Not Me?" provides the theme music for a new MTV show, their fresh-faced mugs were just featured on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," and Spin gave them a nice writeup in last month's issue. Their Beatlesque pop is hardly unique, but it's catchy. Scissors for Lefty and Ivory open.

Philadelphia jazz-rockers Lotus tap into a lulling cosmic groove that touches on funk, house, techno, ambient sounds and world music. Expect a gentle cleansing of the synapses rather than a heavy-duty scrubbing.